Twenty years ago, I used to drive a cab for a living. Once I got a phone call. They said I should pick up a passenger from a building. I reached that building at midnight. It was dark except for a single light in a ground-floor window.
In this kind of situation, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. They don't wait more time.
But I know that taxis are the only transportation for some people at midnight. So I don't say "no" to any passenger at midnights.
Now this passenger in the building might be someone who needs my assistance. So I walked to the door and knocked.
"Just a minute," answered a weak female voice.
I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a hat, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase.
The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. There was less number of things in her house.
"Would you carry my bag to the car?" she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the cab. She kept thanking me for my kindness.
"It's nothing," I told her. "I treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated by others."
"Oh, you're such a good boy," she said.
When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"
"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.
"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospital."
I looked at her eyes. Her eyes were glistening.
"I don't have any family," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have a very long life."
"What route would you like me to take?" I asked. She answered.
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. She told me many things about her job.
We drove through the street where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She told me about her sweet husband.
She requested me to stop before a big building where she used to dance as a dancer at her young age. She told me about her dancing career.
She requested me to stop at a market where she used to buy vegetables and meat. She told me about that market.
Sometimes she asked me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
She requested me to stop my cab in many places. she recalled her memories and told me very interestingly.
I listened to all her words and I said frequently "oh. that's great."
After some time she said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
We came to a small house. Two nurses came out to the cab as soon as we came. They put her in a wheelchair.
"How much should I give you?" she asked.
"Nothing," I said.
"You have to make a living," she answered.
"There are many passengers to give me money."
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held me tightly.
"You made an old woman very very happy, tonight. Thank you" she said.
I squeezed her hand, then walked to my car. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.
I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I was lost in thought. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver? what if she had not gotten any driver? or what if I had honked once, then driven away without taking her?
Once again I understood one thing. Many people need us. Many people need our help. Our happiness exists in helping others. Our happiness exists in making others happy.
Life can be more joyful, when you share a moment for others, with a smile, a hug, a word, or a moment.
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